I, along with the fictional character from Atlantis whom I quote, am struggling to put together eloquent words.
"Whaaat?!" you may gasp all astonishedly. "But you put together beautiful prose right here on the blog every week."
Ah yes, you are too kind. But this occasion calls for a more elegant series of words and phrases. A series that will take me somewhere between 2 to 5 minutes to say, will be touching yet humorous, and will, above all else, not embarrass me in front of the 50 - 100 people in front of whom I will be speaking.
And what occasion is this? Why, none other than Sister2's wedding.
Like many other couples, Sister2 and Soon-to-be-Brother desire a friend to stand with them and perform the ceremony. But unlike most other couples, they have invited me to do it. And so I vacillate between excitement and growing panic as the months slip by.
I've got a speech written. But it's ugly. The proper words elude me. The funny parts aren't phrased well and the joke falls flat.
I jotted it all down because I knew I had to start somewhere, and I wanted to solidify the framework of the speech. I ignored the poor phrasing because a faint memory of quotes by Hemingway kept insisting that "first drafts are crap." And you have to start somewhere!
So now I'm in the revision stage. My outline looks like this:
(And here I thought I wouldn't write 5 paragraph essays in real life.)
I like the outline. I think it's a good foundation. But it's hard to both write something that hits the right notes and that I can imagine saying in front of people. Because we definitely speak differently than we write (or at least I do). And I don't want to sound stilted and unnatural (it's going to be bad enough speaking in front of them with a glowing red face).
But I've got a month to figure it out before we all sit down together and plan the ceremony. And then another month to fuss over it and practice talking in front of the mirror, Luke, Ryan, Roommate and whoever else will listen to me.
So I guess I shouldn't worry, right? Words will come to me. Eventually...
"Whaaat?!" you may gasp all astonishedly. "But you put together beautiful prose right here on the blog every week."
Ah yes, you are too kind. But this occasion calls for a more elegant series of words and phrases. A series that will take me somewhere between 2 to 5 minutes to say, will be touching yet humorous, and will, above all else, not embarrass me in front of the 50 - 100 people in front of whom I will be speaking.
And what occasion is this? Why, none other than Sister2's wedding.
Like many other couples, Sister2 and Soon-to-be-Brother desire a friend to stand with them and perform the ceremony. But unlike most other couples, they have invited me to do it. And so I vacillate between excitement and growing panic as the months slip by.
I've got a speech written. But it's ugly. The proper words elude me. The funny parts aren't phrased well and the joke falls flat.
I jotted it all down because I knew I had to start somewhere, and I wanted to solidify the framework of the speech. I ignored the poor phrasing because a faint memory of quotes by Hemingway kept insisting that "first drafts are crap." And you have to start somewhere!
So now I'm in the revision stage. My outline looks like this:
- Introduction - greeting, statement of intent, and theme
- Personal Growth - how far Sister2 and Soon-to-be-Brother have come together
- Overcoming Adversity - making fun of their ridiculous dog
- Uniqueness - the things that make them different and perfect for each other
- Wrap Up - tie it all together somehow and transition into the rest of the ceremony
(And here I thought I wouldn't write 5 paragraph essays in real life.)
I like the outline. I think it's a good foundation. But it's hard to both write something that hits the right notes and that I can imagine saying in front of people. Because we definitely speak differently than we write (or at least I do). And I don't want to sound stilted and unnatural (it's going to be bad enough speaking in front of them with a glowing red face).
But I've got a month to figure it out before we all sit down together and plan the ceremony. And then another month to fuss over it and practice talking in front of the mirror, Luke, Ryan, Roommate and whoever else will listen to me.
So I guess I shouldn't worry, right? Words will come to me. Eventually...
Have you had to give a speech in front of a large group and how did you decide what to write? Do you turn red when people are staring at you?
